Meet the Verto Team

Who We Are

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We’re a passionate and dedicated team of analytics and market research professionals. Together we’re shaping the future of audience
measurement and guiding the way brands, advertisers, and publishers get actionable insights on the digital consumer.

Leadership

Dr. Hannu VerkasaloCEO and Founder

As a successful digital entrepreneur, Dr. Hannu Verkasalo has founded, built, and sold several companies in the digital space. He has also advised more than twenty ventures across the U.S. and Europe over the past 15 years and has had two successful exits (Menudata, Zokem). Most recently, he led the mobile and online research arm for Arbitron, acquired by Nielsen in 2011. Hannu holds a Ph.D in mobile analytics and holds master’s degrees in social science, engineering, and economics.

Patrick BrennanUS President

Patrick Brennan leads Verto’s marketing, sales, and customer success in the US. Pat has held executive positions with industry-leading firms in advertising measurement, brand health measurement, audience measurement and campaign verification. Patrick began his career with ARS Group where he led client service teams for clients across the US, Europe, and South America. When comScore acquired ARS in 2010, Pat accepted an elevated role where he managed comScore’s full portfolio of services across multiple key global accounts. Prior to joining Verto, Pat was a partner with MSW Research in New York and holds an MBA from the University of Cincinnati.

Meri KupiainenChief Administration Officer

Meri Kupiainen heads Verto’s global finance, HR, product and design operations. Meri is a co-founder/COO/CMO of Zokem, which sold in 2011 to Arbitron Inc. She led the global product development and operations for Arbitron Mobile after the acquisition. She has held several advisory and board roles, and her earlier work includes managerial roles in consulting, banking, and music licensing. Meri holds an MBA from Aalto University.

Tero LindbergVP, Technology Operations

With the deep technical background and entrepreneurial spirit, Tero has been successfully leading technical strategies, teams, and projects in multiple companies. Throughout his career, he has been in key roles translating demanding customer needs to sustainable products. Prior to joining Verto Analytics, Tero has spent time with companies including Viasys VDC, Kiosked, Arbitron, and Seven Networks.

John McLarenVP, West Coast Sales and Business Development

John has over 20 years of experience in market research and audience measurement. In prior roles at Forrester Research, M:Metrics and comScore, John managed teams delivering complex syndicated and custom research solutions to strategic accounts throughout the West Coast.

Antti RiikonenProduct Lead

Dr. Antti Riikonen is responsible for product management at Verto Analytics. Previously, he has worked as a researcher and project manager in several mobile usage measurement projects, done in collaboration with the research and telecommunications industries. Antti holds a Ph.D. in network economics.

Paul StenbackVP of Finance and People

Paul leads the global people and finance operations of the company. Prior to Verto, he was the CFO of LeadDesk, a publicly listed provider of cloud based contact center software. He also has experience from M&A at EY (Ernst & Young) and MCF Corporate Finance, a boutique investment bank, covering the Nordics and Germany. Paul holds a Master´s degree in economics from University of Helsinki.

Dr. Timo SmuraHead of Research

Dr. Timo Smura heads up Verto’s data research operations, data science, and analytics. He manages the digital measurement methodology, data production, quality assurance, and market insights. Timo is a widely referenced researcher with 12 years in carrier and telecom consulting. He contributed to advanced research methods to model the internet ecosystem. Timo has a Ph.D in telecommunications management.

Board of Directors

Liz MuschChair of the Board of Directors, ?What If! Innovation

Liz Musch has over 25 years of experience as CEO in multinational professional and marketing services companies, and more than 20 years serving on private, public and nonprofit boards. She was most recently Global CEO of two divisions at Ipsos: their Loyalty and ASI brand and communications divisions. Prior to that, she held positions as European CEO of Kantar Added Value and CEO France of Millward Brown.

Steve FarellaBoard Member, Founder of Havas Media, Chairman of MDC

Steve Farella, chairman of MDC Media Partners, based in New York, is an entrepreneur in the media agency space. His professional experience includes founding the MPG Media (now Havas Media) and co-founding in 2002 the fastest growing independent media agency, TargetCast tcm, which he sold to MDC Partners. Today, Farella serves as founding chairman of MDC Media Partners and Assembly Media, a newly launched media agency providing scaled media solutions powered by unique planning and buying technologies. Before launching media agencies, Farella built and managed media groups at several leading national advertising agencies including Jordan McGrath Case & Partners, Young & Rubicam, Wells Rich Greene/BDDP, and Ammirati & Puris. He began his career at Benton & Bowles.

Dr. Hannu VerkasaloCEO and Founder

As a successful digital entrepreneur, Dr. Hannu Verkasalo has founded, built, and sold several companies in the digital space. He has also advised more than twenty ventures across the U.S. and Europe over the past 15 years and has had two successful exits (Menudata, Zokem). Most recently, he led the mobile and online research arm for Arbitron, acquired by Nielsen in 2011. Hannu holds a Ph.D in mobile analytics and holds master’s degrees in social science, engineering, and economics.

Tom HenrikssonPartner, Open Ocean Capital

Tom joined Open Ocean Capital from Nokia Corporation, where he spent almost nine years in various leadership roles developing and investing in new businesses. Prior to Nokia, Tom was Managing Partner of Holtron Ventures, one of the A round investors into MySQL.

Sami AhvenniemiBoard Member, Chief Customer Officer, SSH

Sami Ahvenniemi the founder of Conor Venture Partners (one of the first Finnish VC investors), and currently the Chief Customer Officer of publicly listed SSH a Finnish based cyber security company . Based in Helsinki, Ahvenniemi has an extensive background working for technology-intensive companies both in the U.S. and Europe, and he served in the board of more than 15 growth companies over the past 10 years.

Interested in joining the Verto Team?
Take a look at our latest job openings.